Tales from the Arabic — Volume 01 eBook

“O king,” answered the youth, “if
there have betided thee talk because of me, by Allah,
by Allah the Great, those who have brought on thee
this talk from the folk are these wicked viziers,
who devise with the folk and tell them foul things
and evil concerning the king’s house; but I
trust in God that He will cause their malice to revert
upon their heads. As for the king’s menace
of me with slaughter, I am in the grasp of his hand;
so let not the king occupy his mind with my slaughter,
for that I am like unto the sparrow in the hand of
the fowler; if he will, he slaughtereth him, and if
he will, he looseth him. As for the delaying
of my slaughter, it [proceedeth] not [from] the king,
but from Him in whose hand is my life; for, by Allah,
O king, if God willed my slaughter, thou couldst not
avail to postpone it, no, not for a single hour.
Indeed, man availeth not to fend off evil from himself,
even as it was with the son of King Suleiman Shah,
whose anxiety and carefulness for the accomplishment
of his desire of the new-born child [availed him nothing],
for his last hour was deferred how many a time! and
God saved him until he had accomplished his [foreordained]
period and had fulfilled [the destined term of] his
life.”

“Out on thee!” exclaimed the king.
“How great is thy craft and thy talk! Tell
me, what was their story.” And the youth
said, “O king,

STORY OF KING SULEIMAN SHAH AND HIS SONS.

There was once a king named Suleiman Shah, who was
goodly of polity and judgment, and he had a brother
who died and left a daughter. So Suleiman Shah
reared her on the goodliest wise and the girl grew
up, endowed with reason and perfection, nor was there
in her time a fairer than she. Now the king had
two sons, one of whom he had appointed in himself
that he would marry her withal, and the other purposed
in himself that he would take her. The elder
son’s name was Belehwan and that of the younger
Melik Shah, and the girl was called Shah Khatoun.

One day, King Suleiman Shah went in to his brother’s
daughter and kissing her head, said to her, ’Thou
art my daughter and dearer to me than a child, for
the love of thy father deceased; wherefore I am minded
to marry thee to one of my sons and appoint him my
heir apparent, so he may be king after me. Look,
then, which thou wilt have of my sons, for that thou
hast been reared with them and knowest them.’
The damsel arose and kissing his hand, said to him,
’O my lord, I am thine handmaid and thou art
the ruler over me; so whatsoever pleaseth thee, do,
for that thy wish is higher and more honourable and
nobler [than mine] and if thou wouldst have me serve
thee, [as a handmaid], the rest of my life, it were
liefer to me than any [husband].’

The king approved her speech and bestowed on her a
dress of honour and gave her magnificent gifts; after
which, for that his choice had fallen upon his younger
son, Melik Shah, he married her with him and made
him his heir apparent and caused the folk swear fealty
to him. When this came to the knowledge of his
brother Belehwan and he was ware that his younger brother
had been preferred over him, his breast was straitened
and the affair was grievous to him and envy entered
into him and rancour; but he concealed this in his
heart, whilst fire raged therein because of the damsel
and the kingship.